We are being visited by out of town guests this week. The visitors include three youngsters who happen to be very plain and picky eaters. I definitely wanted to treat them to cupcakes, but knew that I couldn’t veer far from very straightforward flavors. I decided to do four recipes – a basic chocolate cupcake, basic vanilla cupcake and chocolate and vanilla frostings – but with quality ingredients. It was also an opportunity to further tweak my basic recipes as I am on an apparently never-ending quest for the perfect chocolate and perfect vanilla cupcake.

I am especially pleased with the chocolate one this time around. I started with my old-fashioned recipe and tweaked it some mostly bumping up the cocoa and cutting back on flour. The cake is soft and fluffy with a nice deep chocolate flavor – irresistible in my book… The vanilla cake recipe is different than my usual. It’s less dense than my usual vanilla cupcake and a bit sweeter. Both frostings are simple and came out nice.

UPDATE: Someone posted about the vanilla recipe asking if its correct in its ingredient amounts. Normally I would say confidently, yes. Sometimes I get instruction slip-ups but never ingredient amounts. Well, I looked at my spreadsheet of vanilla recipes and to be honest, I am not sure now. So, to be safe, I am removing the vanilla recipe until it can be retested.

UPDATE: Slight adjustment to remove baking soda which should help with this recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
7. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note: I try to use the best quality cocoa I can find. It makes a huge difference. For this recipe I used Valrhona cocoa. Its so dark that the batter is almost purple.

Note: This cupcake recipe is the kind that will result in a flat cupcake (not domed). One thing you must be careful of is over-filling the cupcake paper. I did just that with the last cupcake and the result was a sunken hole (see photo below). If the cake continues to rise and has no where to go and will one over flow and two start to sink back on itself as it doesn’t have the structure to hold the excess batter up. So, stick to 2/3’s full and don’t be tempted (as I was) to squeeze that last bit of batter into one of the papers.

1. Chop the chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl. Melt over a pan of gently simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 – 20 minutes.
2. Dissolve the cocoa powder in the boiling water in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Scrape the bowl.
4. Add powdered sugar and beat to combine.
5. Add cooled, melted chocolate and beat to combine.
6. Add cocoa paste and beat to combine.

1. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy.
2. Sift powdered sugar into the mixer bowl (right on top of the beaten butter). Beat to combine.
3. Add the vanilla and the milk. Beat until combined.

Note: This makes a softer, less sweet buttercream that is good for swirling on but not for piping as it’s not stiff enough.

creamy frosting

Assemble
1. Spoon about a tablespoon of frosting onto each cooled cupcake. The frosting recipes make just enough for about a tablespoon each.
2. With a small offset spatula, smooth the frosting into a swirl.
3. Top with sprinkles.

I frosted some vanilla with vanilla and some with chocolate and vice versa. I ended up with 4 combos total. My favorite was the chocolate cake with the vanilla buttercream frosting. Yum!

I just made the butter cream icing you posted and it is yummy!!!! I used it to frost cupcakes for my daughter’s class and thankfully there was some left over – my youngest and I are sharing it now. :-) So much better that those recipes with shortening in them. THANK YOU!!!!!

I used the frosting in bags to pipe it on the cupcakes and had to let it set in the fridge to harden a bit but I will be using it again and again.

I made a chocolate guiness cake last night (nigella lawson) and the frosting was cream cheese and powdered sugar, but used heavy cream instead of butter. It was like your vanilla frosting above–better for swirling than for piping. It was so incrediblly creamy (because of, well, the cream duh)and had a beautiful shine.
I’ve been a fan of your cupcakes for ages, but dont’ think I’ve ever left a comment. Keep up the fantastic work.

I love the frosting, but I do not know what happened with my vanilla cupcakes. They are horrible! I was actually wondering if the recipe is correct? I am not sure what I did wrong… Oh well! Love the frosting!

I am sure I did something wrong. But I don’t know what it was. The cupcakes came out with a strange crunchy, almost crystallized top, and were doughy in the middle. Filled only 2/3’s full. I tried to retrace my steps, and can’t pick out where I went off track. I did use Trader Joe’s Evaporate Cane Juice instead a regular granulated sugar. Could that be it? I bet it is!

Yeah, that would be it. The sugar crystals really factor into the texture of the cake particularly during the step where you beat the butter with the sugar until its light and fluffy. Without that step you will likely end up with something very dense…

i love simple. and i love your cupcakes because not only do they look good, they taste phenomenal too. I would definitely try that chocolate recipe because i’ve been on the lookout for a GOOD chocolate cake recipe. The ones i’ve tried has disappointed me so far. and that frosting looks soooo good.

Please help. I’d like to make these this weekend, but noticed something in the vanilla cupcake recipe. It calls for one egg, yet the directions say, “Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.” Which is correct?

I had the same thing happen as #17 – filled only 2/3rds, but ended up with hard, crunchy tops and super sunken undercooked middles. And I made two batches, following the recipe to the t each time. Very odd and kind of sad! I frosted them nonetheless, but they’re more cratercakes than cupcakes. :-(

Same as 17 and 34 but for chocolate. What have I done wrong as I followed the measurements and methods to the T. Crunchy top and sunken cake even it was measured 2/3 full. Tastes delicious nonetheless and I scooped them out for raspberry chocolate trifle instead.

Hi…I made the chocolate cupcakes and I love them!!! I just wanted to find out how to thicken the frosting a bit. Next time I’d like to ice the cupcakes. Thank you for all your lovely posts! you’re the best! :)

I am in the process of making the vanilla cupcakes and I am suddenly wondering if you forgot to halve the sugar when you re-wrote the recipe?! There is more sugar in these than flour, which is not the typical ratio, even for a slightly sweeter than normal cake. Actually, I think I’m going to cut the sugar in half and see what happens.

Heather & Su, The commenter in #17 substituted the sugar for cane juice, hence why the recipe failed. This is to be expected. If you followed it to a T, like you said, then the other issue could be oven temperature (or specifically an oven that is not hot enough. I will test this recipe a couple of times more to see if I can make it bullet proof, but that is tough. There are many competing factors when it comes to baking success. I know it worked for me and other posters, so it can be a mystery..

Wendy, The frosting recipe isn’t really for piping but more for spreading. I have a lot of other recipes for pipable chocolate frosting on the blog. But if you insist on using this one, just beat in more sifted, powdered sugar at the end until its thick.

You kinda addressed this in #20, but I ended up with dense, hard cupcakes. The only thing I did differently was mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon: poor college student=no electric mixer. How did people make cakes before electric mixers? Would whisking it to death work?

I made the chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting today. Both turned out delicious, but I had 2 problems – maybe you could help me figure out what happened? I used large muffin-type tins. I didn’t think I overfilled, but they collapsed. One thing I did wrong was forgot to add the sugar early and cream it, so it went in after some milk and flour mix. The other problem is that they stuck to the wrapper. Any idea what could have caused that? thanks!

Hmm..so I made your chocolate cupcakes..and they were good, yet the tops turned out..crunchy-ish? I have no idea – but the next day they weren’t really like that. They collapsed slightly in the middle too..but then again, the baking powder I used was 3 months expired…so that could be it. Just the tops were odd the first time they came out. BUT THEY WERE GOOD :) Thank you

i made them! they were SO GOOD! thanks so so much for the recipe! i made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting
the chocolate frosting is just divine and not too sweet, everyone loved it :D

but i have a few questions, maybe you can help me answer them? i tried the vanilla frosting as well but i think i overbeat it and it seemed like there was water oozing out…
and for some reason my cupcakes were domed instead of flat (which is not much of a problem, but i’m just curious)…but i followed the instructions and used the ingredients listed…i think i might have beaten the batter too much and too much air got trapped or something.

The chocolate cupcakes were great esp with the vanilla buttercream icing… I love them! Yummy… I tried baking as a whole big cake the other day… And it’s turn out as delicious.. Thanks for the recipe!!
Is it possible for you to put up the vanilla cupcake recipe again cos I would like to try it.

I made the chocolate, and they just never rose, except up the sides. I used exactly the same ingredients (as in, from the same containers of flour, baking powder, etc) in successful cupcakes just last week, so it wasn’t what was in them. However, I’m well aware that cupcakes are delicate flowers, and if you look at them cross-eyed they fall, so I blame an off day. The batter sure tasted fabulous!!!

I tried the chocolate ones and had the some problems some others had. I keep looking back over to see what I did wrong, and can’t find it. The first batch I filled the cups 2/3 of the way, and they spilled over on the sides, sunk in the middle, and stuck to the paper when I tried to get what was left out.

So for the second batch I filled the cups only 1/2 full. I didn’t have any spill over this time, but they still all collapsed! The tops are crunchy, and I can’t get them out of the cupcake liner. I was so disappointed! While I was mixing them, the batter looked (and tasted) divine, I thought for sure that the cupcakes would turn out fabulous!

I’ll try one of your other recipes though! Thanks for the great blog! I’ve been wanting to learn to make great cupcakes, and I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it if I keep looking around here!

Thanks for the delicious recipe. I find that it slightly sinks in the middle…but no worries as I can just cover with frosting. I baked 2 different batches with different temperature. If I follow the exact temperature…I find that the cupcake doesnt stick to the liners (sides shrink away from the liners) but if I lower down the temp about -10 deg (as I’m using fan forced oven)…it rises well (but sinks slightly). Other than that…it’s absolutely delicious…gonna use this recipe to bake for my friend’s son’s birthday picnic this Sunday and for his party in his kindy on Tuesday with spiderman theme :)

These are delicious! I have made them precisely as instructed with no problems. They are so good I wanted to know if I could make this as a cake. Since they come out flat, would the cake turn out right? Please let me know, I wanted to make it for my son’s Birthday party! :)

I made the chocolate cupcakes, and my results were similar to #65….crusty tops, sunken middles….What I’m curious about is the quantity. The recipe says it yields 14 cupcakes…..and to fill the 2/3 full. The batter made 18 cupcakes for me, which convinced me I had not filled them too much. Yet, they still poured over and stuck to the top of the cupcake pan. I’m not really sure what I did wrong…

This is a terrible chocolate cupcake recipe. Can anyone who actually tried this recipe say it turned out well?
I under-filled the cups a bit to avoid the dreaded sinking … Made 15 cupcakes. They still overflowed and sunk.
Take mercy on the unwary, and take down the choc cupcake recipe too.